Us Amongst The Ruins
by CommanderKilljoy
Summary: Outside of being a detective for the KCPD, Joseph Oda has a life outside of work. When his girlfriend doesn't hear from him in a few days, she starts to think the worst. (Also posted on AO3)


Sara climbed down the steps of the apartment building and into the basement. She hated doing laundry but it had to get done. With her days off changing every week, she did laundry no matter how much was in the basket. Finally reaching the basement, she let out a sigh of relief. No one was down there and she would be able to get her clothes washed in peace. Putting the clothes in the washer, she started it and pulled a book from the basket. She was taking an online class to help further her education in becoming a nurse. It was something she always wanted to do and she enjoyed helping people.

She lost herself in the book that she almost didn't hear someone walking down the steps. She was ready to close the book when she looked up to see who was standing on the landing made her smile. It was her boyfriend Joseph Oda and she wasn't expecting to see him.

"Hey, figured you were down here." Pushing herself off the table that was in the middle of the room, Sara walked up to him and kissed him.

"Laundry day, my favorite day of the week." She rested her hands on his waist as she looked up at him.

"I can tell. I figured it was what you were doing since you didn't answer the door." He took off his leather gloves and tossed them to the table, landing softly next to her textbook. He leaned down and kissed her. To her, being with him has been the best three years of her life. With him being a detective, it did come with stress. She wouldn't see him for days on end and if she really wanted to see him, she would sneak down to the police station. Some days she was okay with getting a glimpse of him, hoping he was okay.

"You going to stay with dinner?" Sara asked as she slowly pulled herself from him and walked over to the washer. Her clothes had finished and she hoped it wouldn't take them to long to dry. She wanted as much time with him before another case took all of his attention.

"Of course. When was the last time we had a meal together?" He smiled at her as he moved closer to the table and examined her textbook as she pressed the button and the dryer started.

"A while." Making her way to the table, she looked down to see what he was reading. "I'm going to have a lab on a couple of Saturdays. I have to practice drawing blood." She watched as he flipped a page and looked at her.

"Sounds interesting. Need someone to practice on?" Chuckling, she shook her head.

"I don't want to give the guys any reason to ask why your arms are all bruised up. Might think something is wrong." He smiled at her as he flipped another page.

When the laundry was all done, Joseph helped her carry the clean laundry up the steps and into her apartment. They had sat the clothes on the couch and made their way into the kitchen. Sara walked over to the fridge and looked to see what she could make up for them. She didn't want to make anything complicated because she knew they were both hungry but didn't want anything simple.

"I still have some frozen sauce in the freezer. I could make some spaghetti." She looked over her shoulder and he was opening up the cabinet, looking for a glass.

"That's fine with me." Opening the freezer, she grabbed the container of sauce and put it in the sink. After waiting for him to fill his class, she put the container in the sink and let it run under warm water. Then they started to move with ease around her kitchen. They worked around each other as they both help make the dinner, even though it was just getting the pasta into the pot of water. A phone started ringing and Sara bit her lip. Her phone was out in the living room and she closed her eyes tightly.

"Please don't answer it…" Her voice was scratchy and her vision was starting to blur. She already knew who was calling; Sebastian. One of the stresses was never knowing how long she was going to get with him once he walked through the door. They both stood there in silence as the phone kept ringing.

"I have to." He said, not looking at her but at his phone. The phone became silent as she heard him answering the phone. Reaching over, she turned off the water in the sink and looked at the water. She turned the burner down as she heard Joseph talking on the phone. Not listening to the conversation, she walked out into the living room and gathered the clean laundry. There was silence in the kitchen as she made her way to her bedroom. Hot tears finally streamed down her cheeks as she heard footsteps behind her and arms around her. "I have to go."

"Please don't. You just got here." Her voice sounded tiny as he kissed her head and held her even tighter.

"I'll see you in a bit, okay? You'll never notice the time."

"I always notice the time." Turning around in his arms, she buried her face into his shoulder and breathed in. They stood like that for a few moments before she finally pulled away. "You better go. Best not let Sebastian wait." She felt his arms leave her body and him walk out of the room. Finally, the front door opened and then quietly closed. Sitting on the bed, she buried her face into her hands and started to cry.

Something had Sara scared and it was that she hadn't heard from Joseph in a couple of days since he had left her apartment. Every time she had called the station, she was told he had stepped out. She was so close in going down to see her himself. Pushing her textbook to the side, she stood up and walked to her bedroom to change. Moving the curtain a bit, she saw the rain coming down in buckets onto the streets. Changing into more suitable clothing to go out, she grabbed her purse and made her way down to the street. Hoping to make good time to the station, she set off at a brisk pace. She had never seen it rain this much in Krimson City.

Finally reaching the station, she walked up the steps and shook out her umbrella before walking in. She was surrounded by voices and bodies that were rushing around. After failing to grab someone's attention, she grabbed a police man by his arm and finally had someone's attention.

"Sir, I'm looking for Detective Oda. Do you know where he is?" The man looked at her for a moment before answering.

"The detectives went to answer a call. We haven't been able to get a hold of them." The man walked away and stood there, speechless. No one had been able to get a hold of them? Turning around and making her way down the steps, she stood there and waited. She heard sirens and quickly followed them. Jumping over puddles, she looked up in the distance and saw where they were headed.

"Oh no…" She muttered quietly and started to walk faster towards Beacon Mental Hospital. By the time she had reached the cop cars that were surrounding the gate, she was soaked completely through. She stood near an empty cop car, watching as men in S.W.A.T. gear run towards the front entrance. From what she could see, it looked like someone murdered a lot of people. Looking over, she saw a man walk by her but someone else had grabbed her attention. In the front entrance to the hospital stood two figures. Squinting, she had a hard time telling who was standing there. The figures started moving away from the entrance and made their way towards the steps.

"Ma'am, please move. No one is supposed to be here." A cop came and started to guide her away.

"No, sir…I know those two detectives. One of them is Detective Oda, you can go get him. He knows me." The cop started to move her further away. "Please, sir. Detective Oda!" She hated using such formality but it was needed. The figures were walking towards an ambulance. "Joseph!" The figure turned and looked towards her. He moved away and made his way towards her.

"Officer, she's okay. Let her pass." Joseph said as he reached out and gently grabbed her arm. The officer let her pass and she was taken towards the ambulance.

"Are you okay? I haven't heard from you in days and I was so worr-" He pulled her into a tight hug and she felt the air leave her lungs. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him but not as tightly.

"I'm…I'm not okay. I can't tell you what I saw, at least not yet. But I'm glad to be out." He spoke just above a whisper. She pulled herself away from him and kissed his lips.

"We'll get through this, okay?" They looked at each other and then he nodded. She moved him towards an ambulance and she knew that he wasn't going to be going away for a while.


End file.
